Holy Cross Winter Convocation 2003

Katie O'Keefe '03

Before every basketball game of my past three and a half years here at Holy Cross, while the anthem is being sung and all are anticipating the thrill of the tip-off, I have said a very simple prayer. In this prayer, I do not pray for victory, but rather that my actions and attitudes during those forty minutes might honor and glorify God. Basketball is a game. It is fun and competitive, but it is also a labor, a responsibility, and it is an opportunity. An opportunity to do God's work - to let His light shine out in my life. The words of that prayer, that my actions and attitudes might give glory to God and show His love through me, is how I find spiritual meaning in all my labors - whatever they may be.

The meaning I find in my endeavors was found within the journey of my life thus far. This journey begins with my family and faith background. I was baptized and received my first communion in the Catholic Church, but shortly after, my family made a move to a church with a different style of worship. This Congregational Church was a community with a real sense of God's presence and a passion for worship. Here, our family found the community of faith with the answer to many of the needs in our lives.
Growing up, my Mom and Dad made God an important part of their lives and our life as a family. My Mom, originally a teacher, became involved in many church organizations and local volunteer enrichment programs. It was easy to see the joy it brought my Mom to give of herself and share God's love. My Dad, a civil engineer, has loyally served a New Hampshire company for many years, and has always conducted himself, despite obstacles, with integrity and an unshakable trust that God would provide for our family. My parents give of themselves with God's love in their hearts. They give to others faithfully and joyfully and in doing so, they serve God honorably. With that joy in their hearts and the way they approach the labors of their lives, I asked myself, why would I attempt the labors of my own life in any other way?

My journey taught me from any early age that I had a passion for working with people. As a kid, I always loved visiting the elderly in nursing homes with my Girl Scout troop and Catechism classes. In high school, I volunteered at a local homeless shelter in which I did odd jobs around the facility, and babysat for the parents at the home who often had no escape from the craziness of their lives. I have always loved giving of myself and my own joy - the joy that loving others through my daily actions inspires.
Next my journey brought me here, to Holy Cross. Junior year, I began to apply to colleges. What I found is that there are few institutions out there with a mission statement as challenging to a young person, and fitting to the woman I wanted to become as that of Holy Cross. The experience at Holy Cross, beginning with the admissions essay I would write, would oblige me to ask such questions as:

"How do we find meaning in life and history? What are our obligations to one another? What is our special responsibility to the world's poor and powerless?"

To become a "woman for others" was a hands-down decision for me, (this aside from the fact that my other option was to attend the University of Richmond and become a RICHMOND SPIDER! )

My journey directed me immediately to sociology for its nature as a discipline in which we are seeking to understand ourselves as part of a greater whole - as men and women inevitably with an impact, and therefore a responsibility, upon this earth. This past spring, I accepted a summer internship through Lilly Endowment and S.P.U.D. here at Holy Cross. The program was created in the interest of exploring vocation among Holy Cross students while giving to the Worcester community. I saw immediately an opportunity to explore where God is calling me to give of myself and, in doing so, glorify Him. I worked with the Worcester Youth Center, a facility in the heart of Worcester where kids from the underprivileged area can come to participate in structured programs, recreational activities, service projects, or to just escape the everyday of their lives. During my summer at the Worcester Youth Center, I organized an all-day summer kick-off picnic for the kids, assisted in weekly service projects, supervised day trips, served lunches, and most of all, acted as a mentor to the children. I learned the difficulties the kids in this tough area of Worcester face everyday and I developed relationships with many incredible youth.

At the end of each week, I was able to sit down and reflect on how God was speaking to me through my daily experiences at the Center. This is where I was most significantly molded and changed by the experience. I saw the rewards of persistent kindness, smiles and caring pay off in the fruits of the kids' respect and trust. I persisted in sharing God's love with them each day through my actions and attitudes and they, in turn, taught me lessons and gave me gifts of which they will probably never know. Last summer, I believe that I became connected more deeply within our community. When I arrived at the Worcester Youth Center in May, I was an outsider, but when I left in August, I knew that my patience and my unwavering kindness had made a difference in the lives of a few people, and they had changed me as well - they had reinforced the meaning I find in the labors of my life. To make a difference in the life of one person - to share the joy and the love I have inside my heart is to give a gift of God's love to another person. What more meaning could you ask for than to have loved another and known that you have honored God's name in doing so?

I have only lived 21 years of my life - my journey has really just begun. I do not yet have a career or an adult agenda - but I do have the everyday labors of my life: I have studies; I have basketball; I have service commitments; and I have summer jobs. Whatever the labor may be, I have meaning in that labor because I have God's love to give to others - God's name to glorify in the way I conduct myself.

Jacob is a ten year old who I had the opportunity to work with this summer at the Youth Center. He struggles with attention deficit disorders and has a temper that could snap in an instant. He really challenged me, and at times frustrated me, but when Jacob smiled when I came in the door in the morning, I knew that my persistent tough love and his slowly forming trust in me had formed a bond of friendship. That smile has helped me find meaning in life and labor. In such little things as a child's smile, I know I have shared God's love - honored His name - and in the labors of my life - in my journey - in doing this, I find profound meaning.